Seniors Just Want to Have Fun!

Here I am in the middle of my Singing For Health class CHORUS LINE! Clearly, Seniors like to have fun, too, and I drag everybody up 'on stage' even if they are in a walker! We sing, we dance, we hoop and holler -- we just spend 45 minutes supporting each other and having a silly, raucous time. And guess what - a lot of the folks who haven't talked in months are singing, moving, laughing. Music opens everyone's heart and accesses parts of the brain that regular therapy can't. It's marvelous!

More Senior Singing Superstars!

It's so fantastic seeing all the smiling faces in my Singing For Health class! I always have 'superstars' who come up front and help me with leading the songs, and they love it! Singing makes you happy; it makes you laugh; it brings people together, especially when some seniors tend to get isolated and socially reserved. Here are two superstars, Don and Jean!

Music Improves Memory for Dementia and Alzheimer's Patients

Music Can Help People with Dementia

Music is so powerful!  I have worked with dementia patients, and even though they may not have spoken for years, the moment I begin engaging them with music and songs - they begin singing along!  Read more from this Los Angeles Times article.

Memory: The progressive degeneration of memory in Alzheimer's disease cannot be reversed or slowed by any intervention. But music can temporarily unlock memories for patients who have lost their grip on nearly every other detail of their daily life and relationships.

Patients in the depths of Alzheimer's and other dementias regularly respond to — and even play and sing — music from their distant past, without missing a word or a note. Nursing homes have seized upon that fact, exposing residents to the songs of their childhoods or courtship years to help reunite spouses in dancing and singing and try to coax dementia sufferers from their isolation. One study even found that dementia patients allowed to punch a button on a robot and hear a familiar song experienced improved mood, function and performance on musical memory games.